The art of batsmanship in the modern-day game is more exciting than ever. Batsmen play more shots, with the best of them able to maintain the difficult balance between technical correctness and unorthodoxy as per the requirement of the situation, especially in the limited-overs game.
Traditionally, though, some shots are more reflective of the class of a batsman at the highest level. The ability to play the on-drive, cover-drive, cut and flick it past mid-wicket stand-out, and so does the bravado of pulling the quickest of fast bowlers for a boundary.
The pull often leaves a lasting impression about the player and adds to his legacy. Because it certainly isn't as easy as a few of them tend to make it look. To be able to pull a fast bowler, you need to have an excellent balance and control at the crease, apart from the courage associated with the stroke.
Meanwhile, with the international and domestic cricket shut down across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICC engaged with fans and asked which batsman across eras according to them plays the best pull shot.
To this, veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also gave his opinion. Harbhajan picked the names of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and current Indian opener Rohit Sharma as his best players of the pull shot.
Ponting used to dominate bowling attacks in his prime, and in any highlights package of the Aussie legend, one would easily be able to count a number of pull shots where he would stand tall off the quickest of fast bowlers and leave them at despair over the ease at which they've just been dispatched.
Rohit, on the other hand, is inarguably among India's finest-ever pullers of a cricket ball. Rohit makes swiftest of shuffles, the movement to be in position to tackle the bouncer, and hit it with the never-seen-before ease. The prodigiously talented batsman enjoys a rare advantage over quickest of paceman.
